Johnny Carson Returns: Antenna TV to Air Full ‘Tonight Show’ Episodes

I have only had access to Antenna TV since last September so some of the shows are not reruns to me.

 

Another great Rickles episode last night that was not a rerun to me with drunk Glen Campbell and Dom DeLuise. It might be the funniest of them all.

Tonight is one I have seen before with Frank and Don.

 

I still enjoy Leno as a guest on the Tonight Show more than host. But, it is surreal watching Johnny always be so nice to him knowing what happens later.

 

I always like Leno as a guest too. NBC obviously liked him more than Letterman as the heir to the Tonight Show. After NBC came up with the "Conan takes over in 8 years" bit and it came to fruition, it left a bad taste in my mouth b/c there were so many changes in Late Night.

From the 60s to the 80s, Carson owned Late Night, IMO.

 

Watching the band get time to play an instrumental version of "Nights On Broadway" was a real treat.

 

Have they run any of the few shows they have from the '60s? Also, does anyone know the earliest anniversary show that exists?

 

The 10th Anniversary Show is apparently the earliest one in existence; it has aired on Antenna TV. They only air shows from the "Burbank era" of 1972-1992.

 

This is absolutely incredible....

 

thanks, Ramble!

 

And speaking of Carson and the lost shows... I believe this is a photo from the early 1980s, shortly after Mr. Carson and his lawyers negotiated full ownership of all his surviving Tonight Show episodes:



I had never seen this shot before, but judging by the expression on Johnny's face, I think he's glad to finally own at least all his videotapes from 1972 on.

This NY Times story from October 1982 only reports that Carson re-signed with NBC after a long negotiation, but I'm pretty sure this is when he got three things: a) a big raise, b) complete ownership of his surviving shows (videotapes and kinescopes), and c) ownership of his current show, with NBC keeping the ad revenue. He also reportedly got some bonuses when the ratings went over a certain number.

 

In honor of Roger Moore they played a show with him as a guest last night.

 

Its nice to know theres a real human being queuing up the reels on these shows, instead of some computer.

Streaming video seems like radio of today, lifeless, robotic, all pre-programmed. Love OTA!

 

Agree. They seems to be able to react and reschedule pretty quickly.

 

There's nothing preventing a cable channel from doing the same. Actual humans work there, too.

 

The episode we're trying find is October 11 1967 with Louis Armstrong singing " What A Wonderful World" . Presumably lost though. Audio survives.

Back then I can't think of how anyone would/could have taped it though, right? In other words it wouldn't exist in a private collection somewhere?

 

Most likely in Bing Crosby's wine cellar, if anywhere.

 

Has anyone noticed that Antenna TV has moved Carson from 10-11pm to 11:30-12:30 Sunday through Thursday and 11:30-1 am on Friday and Saturday nights? They'll be directly competing against Fallon, Colbert and Kimmel.

I'd like to see the viewership after a while of it. I'm wondering if they know it's a popular alternative to the usual frenetic pace of those shows.

 

The first home recorders were put on the market in 1965: The Sony CV-2000 Reel-to-Reel Video Recorder

Good luck tracking down anyone who recorded it or who is still alive that had a machine 50+ years ago. But it is possible.

 

I'd much rather watch Johnny than any of those shows.
Go ahead and laugh, but sometimes I actually try and pretend for a minute or two, that I'm back watching the show in 1977, 1981 or whenever. Pretty silly, isn't it?
I really miss Johnny.

 

Not at all. Something I do when I listen to the monologue, is think about how some of the events from then are history now. Those early 70s shows are really fun to watch. Johnny had 90 minutes to do the show, and he did it better than anyone since. The questions draw out the guest, and Johnny plays either the straight man or made the joke himself, should he need to.

I usually think of what I was doing when I see the year of the show.

 

More so than Johnny, I miss 1977.

 

I noticed this yesterday. They changed their whole schedule around at the new year. It seems like a strange move to me. I liked watching it at 10, but don't know if I will when it is up against today's shows.

 

It's funny, last night I was alternating between this and Classic MTV. All this modernity and that's where I still end up.

 

It started over the weekend. I liked having the 10 pm time too. My theory is that they're putting Johnny's shows up against the networks. We'll see.

 

I'd rather watch JC reruns then ANY of the current late night talk.